Galatians 5:2

Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. BEHOLD - i:e., mark what I say. I PAUL. However you disparage me, I give my personal authority as enough by itself to refute all opposition. IF YE BE CIRCUMCISED. - `if ye still suffer yourselves to be circumcised' (Present, peritemnesthe: implying continuance); namely, under the notion of its being necessary to justification (; ). Circumcision is not regarded simply by itself (for, viewed as a national rite, it was practiced for conciliation's sake by Paul himself, ), but as the symbol of Judaism and legalism. If this be necessary, then the Gospel of grace is at an end. If grace b...

2._Behold, I Paul_. He could not have pronounced a severer threatening than that it would exclude them entirely from the grace of Christ. But what is the meaning of this, that Christ will _profit nothing _to all who are circumcised? Did Christ _profit nothing _to Abraham? Nay, it was in order that Christ might profit him that he received circumcision. If we say that it was in force till the coming of Christ, what reply shall we make to the case of Timothy? We must observe, that Paul’s reasoning is directed not so properly against the outward rite or ceremony, as against the wicked doctrine of the false apostles, who pretended that it was a necessary part of the worship of God, and at the same time made it a ground of confidence as a meritorious work. These diabolical contrivances made Christ to _profit nothing_; not that the false apostles denied Christ, or wished him to be entirely set...

1-6 Christ will not be the Saviour of any who will not own and rely upon him as their only Saviour. Let us take heed to the warnings and persuasions of the apostle to stedfastness in the doctrine and liberty of the gospel. All true Christians, being taught by the Holy Spirit, wait for eternal life, the reward of righteousness, and the object of their hope, as the gift of God by faith in Christ; and not for the sake of their own works. The Jewish convert might observe the ceremonies or assert his liberty, the Gentile might disregard them or might attend to them, provided he did not depend upon them. No outward privileges or profession will avail to acceptance with God, without sincere faith in our Lord Jesus. True faith is a working grace; it works by love to God, and to our brethren. May we be of the number of those who, through the Spirit, wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. T...

Verse Galatians 5:2. _IF YE BE CIRCUMCISED_] By circumcision you take on you the whole obligation of the Jewish law, and consequently profess to seek salvation by means of its observances; and therefore Christ can profit you nothing; for, by seeking justification by the _works of the law_, you renounce justification by _faith in_ _Christ_....

BEHOLD, I PAUL SAY UNTO YOU - I, who at first preached the gospel to you; I, too, who have been circumcised, and who was formerly a strenuous assertor of the necessity of observing the laws of Moses; and I, too, who am charged (see Galatians 5:11) with still preaching the necessity of circumcision, now solemnly say to you, that if you are circumcised with a view to being justified by that in whole or in part, it amounts to a rejection of the doctrine of justification by Christ, and an entire apostacy from him. He is to be “a whole Saviour.” No one is to share with him in the honor of saving people; and no rite, no custom, no observance of law, is to divide the honor with his death. The design of Paul is to give them the most solemn assurance on this point; and by his own authority and experience to guard them from the danger, and to put the matter to rest.

EXPOSITION GALATIANS 5:1 GALATIANS 5:2 BEHOLD, I PAUL SAY UNTO YOU (ἴδε, ἐγὼ Παῦλος λώγω ὑμῖν); _lo_,_ I Paul say unto you. _The adverbial exclamation ἴδε, found in St. Paul's writings only here (in Romans 2:17 it should be εἰ δὲ), seems to be more abrupt than ἰδού, pointing to the immense importance and yet possibly unexpected character of what follows. The Galatians might be surprised to hear it; but that which they seemed disposed to take in hand was fraught with utter ruin. "I, Paul:" he thus puts forward his personality, as solemnly gaging his whole credit and responsibility upon the truth of that which he is about

BEHOLD, I PAUL SAY UNTO YOU,.... The apostle proceeds to give some reasons and arguments to enforce the above exhortation and dissuasion: the first of which is introduced with a note of attention, "behold"; what he was about to say being matter of great moment and importance; and also mentions himself by name, as the assertor of it; and that, either because his name was well known to them, and the rather because of his apostolical authority; and to show his full assurance of this matter, and his intrepidity, and that he was no ways ashamed of it, they might, if they pleased, say it to whomsoever they would, that Paul the apostle affirmed, THAT IF YE BE CIRCUMCISED CHRIST SHALL PROFIT YOU NOTHING: he speaks of circumcision, not as when it was an ordinance of God, but as it was now abolished by Christ; and that got as singly performed on some certain accounts for he himself circumcised Ti...

Galatians 5:1. _Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage._ «You are not under the law, but under grace. Do not subject yourselves, therefore, to legal principles. Do not live as if you were working for wages, and were earning your own salvation. Do not submit yourselves to the ritual and commandments of man, which would rob you of your liberty in many ways, but having once become a free man, never again wear the chain of a slave: ‘Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free.' Because you are the seed of Isaac, who was born according to the promise, you are not the children of the bondwoman, you are not Ishmaelites; therefore, as you were born free, as Christ has made you free by virtue of your new birth, stand fast in that glorious liberty.»...

III. THE WALK OF THE JUSTIFIED BELIEVER, AS NOT UNDER THE LAW, BUT UNDER GRACE CHAPTER 5 _ 1. Stand fast! Be not entangled! (Galatians 5:1)_ 2. Exhortations and the law of love. (Galatians 5:7) 3. Flesh and Spirit. (Galatians 5:16) 4. The Fruit of the Spirit. (Galatians 5:22) The first exhortation is to maintain, by faith, the liberty which is found in Christ, to stand fast in that liberty where with Christ has made the believer free and not to be entangled again with the yoke of bondage. The believer has perfect liberty in Christ; he is absolutely dead to the law and the law

Final emphatic statement of the dilemma, Christ or circumcision. Paul, speaking with all authority in spite of false inferences drawn from his circumcising Timothy (Galatians 5:11) and in spite of probable evasions on the part of the Judaizers testifies that those circumcised on religious grounds must keep the whole Law. More important still, in accepting such a rite as necessary to salvation, one renounces Christ; to whom all Christians taught by the Spirit look in faith for the sentence of justification at the great day of judgment. Not that, as an external inherited rite, circumcision is a matter of any consequence. Neither it nor uncircumcision (_cf._ Galatians 6:15; 1 Corinthians 7:19). Faith is all, an